Spontaneous Musings

[Quiet weekend, doing very little. Did go to church and got a lovely compliment on my article that was published in the Church newsletter that went out to about 600,000 folks - on Haiti. "I hope that you continue to write for us. Because you really CAN write!" Hmmm. Ponders writing non-fiction. Tomorrow I get to see apt's again - yes back to the frustrating flat hunting. Also laundry. I've been a lazy ass - the most I've accomplished is grocery shopping, cooking, finishing my latest water-color, and telling myself a story. Also watched some telly. Enuf boring personal stuff - off to do the review.]

Spike issue 4: "You Haven't Changed a Bit"

Well, except for the fact that role of Drusilla is now being played by the gal from Ed Wood film Plan 9 from Outer Space, but other than that....

The comic generally speaking is entertaining. That is if you like tongue in cheek self-deprecating snark and can overlook the fact that the part of Drusilla is now being played by Vampiria. I'm guessing Juliet Landau wasn't available? If you thought this didn't matter in comics, which I did, you'd be wrong. Also demonstrates once again the important role the actors played in these stories. And artists for that matter. While Zanni is improving (possibly helped by the fact that Urru isn't doing half the art, thereby making Zanni look bad by the comparison), it's still below par in some respects. (ie. he sucks at action sequences.)

The plot? It's not that complicated, which to be honest is a bit of a relief after reading some of Willingham's Angel and all of Whedon/Allie/Meltzer et al's Buffy comics, whose plots are so convoluted they gave me a migraine or just an attack of the giggles. (Okay maybe not an actual migraine, I am prone to exaggeration on occasion - I admit that. But the attack of the giggles does sound about right - to say that they are ridiculous is an understatement.) Won't go so far as to say it's great or logical or tight, but hey it's a comic book written by a C-list writer and on a little known imprint, what do you expect? Shakespeare, this ain't. It's not even Claremont or Moore for that matter - who I wouldn't exactly describe as tight plotters either, but they have their moments.

( cut for major plot spoilers - I basically tell you everything so if you haven't read them and want to, without being spoiled, you might want to skip. )

I picked up issue 3 of the Spike comics. I got the Urru cover, they had one issue of the Jenny cover left - priced at 10$, which I passed on. Because, really don't care that much.
The issue I bought was $3.99 (yes, the Spike comics are one dollar more than the Buffy ones...which is odd. But also explains a lot. They also sell out really quickly, while the Buffy comics don't sell out at all - not because one is more popular, so much as the comic stores order more of one than the other.)

At the store - the two comic book shop gals, the tall thin one who likes me and the plump goth gal with multiple body piercings and purple hair who hates me were discussing She Hulk. Or rather how oddly she had been drawn and potential casting for a film version. They said she was too busty, She Hulk isn't busty, she's more athletic in build, more like Cate Blanchett - who they think would be fantastic in the role. (Hey if Iron Man can be Robert Downey, Jr, The Hulk - Edward Norton, why can't She Hulk by Cate Blanchett?)

Found what they said to be interesting - since it is an excellent commentary on how poorly men draw the female form in comic books.Nicola Zanni apparently has taken over for Franco Urru until Stephen Mooney can take over full time. And well, if you didn't like how Franco Urru drew Drusilla or women, you're going to hate what Nicola does, let's put it this way - at least Urru's Drusilla sort of resembled Drusilla. Nicola's doesn't. Like most male comic book artists - he sucks at drawing women realistically. Dru doesn't look like Dru at all. Actually she looks a bit like...Beck or maybe Gwen. Nicola makes Jeanty like Micheangelo (not that Micheangelo ever drew comic books) in comparison. Oh well, at least he's doing the whole thing, as opposed to half of it like in issue 2 - which confused me. Note to comic book editors - switching artists in an action comic book without warning is jarring to the reader. Don't do it. (IDW likes to do it a lot. At least with First Night - they did it to show different points of view. Here, they do it because Urru jumped ship, which I'm beginning to think I should do as well.)

( critical comparison of Spike comics to Buffy comics both regarding art and writing - depicting what is wrong with both comics and why both aren't working for me at the moment - warning, I'm a bit critical of Whedon here, so if you are at all sensitive to such things, you may want to skip - this is basically me trying to figure out why both comic arcs don't work for me. )

Yeah, I know I went off on tangent. Back to the review...not much to say really.

( Spoilers for the Spike comics in a relatively snarky fashion )

That's the plot. I could I suppose try to figure out what theme Lynch is going for, but I seriously doubt Lynch is that deep. I think he's basically exploring Spike by way of the character John Constantine from the Hellblazer series. And having a bit of fun with it. The dialogue is funny in places and the story makes sense and engages you. It's not great, but it's not bad either.

Don't really know whether to recommend the series or not, mostly because I'm not sure I'm going to stick with it. Most likely will if only to see what Lynch plans on doing with Dru and Willow (the next major guest star to pop up in the comics).

It's probably worth noting that I appear to be rapidly losing interest in the comics, the Angel/Buffy verse and all things Whedon related. I'm getting bored. I don't know why exactly. Been struggling to figure it out. Maybe it's just that I'm tired of the same old, same old? Want something new, something that surprises me, and entertains, as opposed to merely disappoints and feels like well watching the same old magic trick even though the magician promises it won't be.

After writing all that? Want to explain one thing - we're going to see this differently guys. Appreciation of entertainment is subjective not objective and it often tends to be emotional. Arguing about such things as personal taste is a bit like telling someone who hates Granny Smith apples (because they are too tart) and loves Golden Delicious (because they are sweet) that they are wrong and Granny Smith have more substance and should be the apples to use in pie. (Actually I think the popular opinion is McIntosh). Also we think differently - what bugs me in the comics, probably doesn't bug someone else. You shouldn't judge someone's tastes primarily on whether or not they love or hate the Buffy comics or a particular novel for that matter. That's silly. People love or hate what they love or hate. This is basically my round-about way of telling you that just because I have issues with the things, doesn't mean I expect you to. Just not really all that interested in arguing about it. Find the prospect a tad head-ache inducing to be honest. So if you vehementally disagree with me, let's just politely agree to respectfully disagree. Save us both some needless blood pressure spikage (comics just aren't worth it...but I don't think politics are either...human rights however, a whole other story.).;-)


Reading The Hunger Games now - about twenty pages in, I think - hard to tell on the Kindle - it says 2% not how many pages. But it is engrossing and I rather like Katniss. Quite a bit in fact. I see Natalie Portman from Luc Besson's The Professional or maybe someone like that. Someone tough as nails. Trying to think of a young actress who fits that...maybe Chloe Mertz from Kickass - although she may be too young. By the way - so far? Hunger Games is a lot better written than Twilight. You can tell Suzanne Collins actually has some training in the craft and experience. She doesn't over do on the adverbs (I really wanted to kick Meyers for that). And the characters feel real and not over-done. In some respects it reminds me of the novel I loved when I was that age - The Girl Who Owned A City -which I bought at a school book fair and adored. (I loved school book fairs as a child - best thing ever. Yes, bookworm. Ecletic and moody book worm, who reads every genre on the planet. I dabble in them all, expert in none.)

Was a bit on the chilly side in my apartment this morning and last night - not because I don't get heat, but whenever there's a blast of wind - it will hiss right through my windows and chill the apartment. Spent three hours after the company holiday party, shrinkwrapping two of the windows (the worst of the bunch) which helped a bit. Also alerted my landlord to the problem this morning. (Shrinkwrapping - is basically taking plastic, cutting it to fit the size and shape of the window, cutting a hole for the window blind puller/opener, pushing the plastic against doublesided scotch tape, using a blowdryer to shrink the plastic so it holds and becomes an additional layer of insulation. Not perfect, but better than taping plastic bags and towels to the windows - which is what I used to do. You can buy shrinkwrap kits in your local hardware store. A work colleague told me about this - although my brother, I'd noticed was also doing it. Bro got all the handyman genes in the family, they skipped over my Dad entirely, whom I take after.)

Finally picked up and read part II of the latest Bryan Lynch/Stephen Mooney - Angel/Spike comic that everyone was grousing over several weeks back. I can see why they didn't like it, it is not by any stretch of the imagination Bryan Lynch, or Stephen Mooney for that matter, best work and that, I'm afraid, is putting it politely.
( review of Lynch's Angel/Spike comic part II with spoilers, of course )

( review of Joss Whedon's Sugarshock )

Other two purchases were Ex Deus Machina - Dirty Tricks by Brian K Vaughn and Tony Harris, and Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics (which appears to be a comic in of itself, with it's own sly wit.) Wanted to buy Atreis Polypos (I think that's the name of the thing), which the comic book reading group that I've joined is reading next month - but alas it's only in hard cover, thus too rich (as in too expensive) and too big for my blood.

When I get back from my vacation, will pick up the Buffy comics, or wait until January and get the Willow one shot and the next installment in the series at the same time. Word has it that the Twilight reveal will come in Feb. But I'm not holding my breath. Also from the interviews...I'm starting to suspect that it is either Giles, Buffy, Xander or Dawn. Because anyone else would be rather low-key, and not be the brilliant reveal they are hollering about.
Can't see how it's going to be brilliant. The main problem I'm having with the comics and why I don't like them as well as the tv series is they lack dramatic irony. That subtle and often witty irony that Whedon excels at. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is harder to pull off in comics?
Comics as Meltzer states in his most recent interview aren't really set up to be told in the same manner as a tv series. Dragging a story thread or thematic story arc over the course of 44 issues in 9 months is not quite the same as doing it over the course of 22 episodes in 30-40 months. Comic book writers are sort of like short story anthologists. Television writers in contrast...tend to do novels. Comics don't really work well as long novels, they work better as episodic stories, with a developing arc behind it. Here we have a novel stretched out over the course of 35 episodes and in a culture that is used to getting stories and information quickly. This probably worked better during the days of Charles Dickens or in the 1980s, not so much now in the age of the internet and text messaging. People have shorter attention spans now, and shorter memories. The information age has made us woefully impatient, forgetful, and with a dreadfully short attention span.

[Made it to the gym finally - which killed a good percentage of the irritability and made me feel a lot better.]

Finally read Angel:After The Fall by Brian Lynch, Joss Whedon, and Frank Urruh. [Got one of the *variant* covers - the one with Tony Harris' art sans the credits at the top, and on the back no ad - just a photo of David Boreanze as Angel with the title below it. This is pretty rare - there's only one of these in each box of 25. There are two other variant covers - one with the whole team (Gunn, Angel, Illyria, and Spike) in the alley. And one with Angel and a bunch of skulls behind him (which I would have preferred -since I prefer that painting of Angel- you can find it at www.grahamcrackers.com) I find it incredibly amusing that I got a variant cover with a pic of DB - because a) I honestly don't care and b) I no longer consider David Boreanze all that physically attractive so much as sorta funny looking. (I know people's mileage differs on this.)]

Will you like the comic? Ah that depends on a couple of factors.

1. Did you like Season 5 of Angel?
2. Do you like noir?
3. Do you like Brian Lynch and Frank Urru?
4. Are you a fan of the Angel Universe?
5. Were you at all curious about what might have happened after the season finale of Angel S5, even if you liked the idea that they all died in the ally?

Not surprised I enjoyed this comic, since Lynch and I are pretty much on the same page regarding which season of Angel that was the most enjoyable. (We both loved Season 5 the most.) I've discovered that it helps a great deal when the writer perceives the characters and world the same way you do in your head. Also helps if their writing style is either similar to your own or one that you find enjoyable. Lynch's writing style is not only enjoyable but makes me laugh.

In a comic book - it is imperative that you like the art or that the art clicks for you on some level. It's like any visual medium or style - if you don't like a cinematographer or an actor - you will have a hard time liking the film or tv show regardless of how well it is written. Novels that are not dependent on graphics do not have this problem. Graphic novels or comic books on the other hand...do. If you don't like the artist, you aren't going to like the comic book. If you do like the artist but hate the writing, you are likely to at least enjoy it a bit. Luckily for me, Frank Urruh is amongst my favorite comic book artists. I adore his style. It resonates for me and in some ways fits how I'd draw the characters in my own head. He doesn't so much draw the characters as paint them, with long flowing strokes. They move across the page in my head. I see the layers in their characterization through his brush strokes. And he manages to reproduce the pulp noir feel of the old Raymond Chandler dime novel covers with their dark blacks, brilliant navy's and blood reds.

As an aside, from the smattering of reviews I've read regarding the book, the people who love Georges Jeanty's style aren't crazy about Urruh's and make the same complaints about Urruh's art that those of us who aren't crazy about Jeanty's artwork make about Jeanty. The two styles are VERY different. So - IT is highly unlikely that if you love one, you'll like the other, although I know people who like both. I'm ambivalent about Jeanty's. It is growing on me and reminds me a great deal of the female line of Japanese Magna - where all the women have very round faces and big eyes. Urru's art, which I obviously prefer, reminds me more of Frank Miller's, Jai Lee (Gunslinger), Alex Ross, and to some extent the artist who does Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise books. It's contemporary yet also somewhat traditional.

The only thing that bugged me about the comic was my favorite character won't turn up until the second issue - but that makes sense, since he is a splashy character and you really can't introduce him too early...you have to set up the main or lead character's position first. If you introduce Spike in the first issue, he might steal the limelight away from the lead - Spike was good at doing that. And it is Angel's book afterall. (*grin*) Seriously, all joking aside (sorry couldn't resist doing that), what Lynch gets from the outset is the story centers on Angel - he's at the core - everyone we come into contact should in some way or other reflect on Angel, either be a choice he hadn't taken, a price he's paying, someone who he condemned, etc. When you write from that perspective, you start with the guys Angel would be closest too. I'm not saying he doesn't care about Spike. But hey you're in a fracas with you estranged kid brother, your girlfriend, your son, your best friends...who are you going to think about first? The annoying, estranged kid brother, thorn in your side - who you wish would go away? Anyhow, don't worry Spike fans - Lynch adores the character and has a great arc planned for him. I trust him - after reading his take in both Asylum and Shadow Puppets.

The plot and its surprises, and there are a few, worked for me. I'd heard about some of them before the issue came out - so was not that surprised. Lynch also does an excellent job of reintroducing key characters from Angel's life in the comic. I'm an odd fan, I actually liked all the characters in Angel. One of the hazards of posting online about a tv show, film series or series of novels is you have to deal with people who like to bash characters or tell you how much they hate your favorite character and why you are (fill in the blank) for liking it. I got a confession - I honestly don't care if you hate a character. It's fictional and liking/hating is highly subjective. You aren't writing it. You don't control that character's fate (thank heavens). And if you hate characters in a series I'm into, I got news for you - it is highly unlikely I'll ever wast my time reading any fanfic you write about that series. I know you can't write a good representation because you don't appreciate the universe or the characters fully. The writers who created it - on the other hand - adore all the characters - so I can trust them to do a good job. (Or they usually do. The one's they dislike or hate usually disappear pretty quickly.) End of the spoiler-free part of the review.

( Angel After the Fall Plot Spoilers - or basically my synopsis and analsys of the story as a whole ) (End spoilers and analysis)

Lynch does a marvelous job of capturing these characters voices and attitudes. Reading the comic reminded me of watching the show, in some ways I preferred it. Because they can do so much more.

I look forward to the next issue. And will definitely continue reading.

My Rating? A